Thursday, April 26, 2012

Happy 10th Anniversary, Mega Man Zero

That's right, Mega Man Zero is a whopping ten years old. On April 26, 2002, the original title hit store shelves in Japan.

Looking back at the old preview materials from Zero 1, I feel needlessly old. Toru Nakayama's artwork especially triggers some fond memories. At the time, no one really knew if the art style reflected some sort of enigmatic plot element. All sorts of theories were thrown on the table: was Zero infected by some sort of virus? Was this even Zero at all? In hindsight, it's kinda funny how the latter turned out to be pretty spot on.

For many fans, Mega Man Zero fulfilled the dream of a "darker" Mega Man. Things were more serious: more mature, edgier and bleaker. Death lurked around every corner. There was blood, too.

Initially, the prospect of a "grim dark" Mega Man filled fans with a sense of uncertainty. Some welcomed the bleak dystopian setting with open arms; others not so much. The biggest fear, I recall, was if this darkness would become the new norm for Mega Man. That prospect never came to fruition and, quite frankly, I don't think it ever will. Even so, much of Mega Man Zero's success is tied to the fact it tried to be different and embraced this brooding, dreadful world -- a far cry from the classic series' setting.

A decade later, the games play just as good if not better than many of today's action-platformers. Sure, they can be pretty tough sometimes. GameBoy breaking tough. But it's all in good fun; you come out of Zero's trials and tribulations with a sense of accomplishment. It feels good to win -- to conquer over something you once believed was impossible. That's Mega Man Zero for you.

So cheers to you, Mega Man Zero... and thank you, Inti-Creates, for creating four amazing games.

15 comments:

In my opinion, these games were the best four platformers to ever grace the video game industry. The Zero series had an awesome storyline (which is uncommon to most Mega Man games), unforgettable characters with unique personalities, amazing bosses, awesome fast-paced gameplay, INCREDIBLE music, an outstanding artstyle, creative level designs… heck, I could just go on and on all day listing this stuff. Though, I won't, because I know that that will result in a stark-raving-mad-long post. lolIn short, happy 10th, Rockman Zero! Even to this day, you remain my favorite video game series of all time.

Happy birthday "Megaman" Zero, it´s a shame capcom killed you by letting burn in flames fighting Dr. Weil,..... unless X´s elf used his merging cyber ability near to your last breath to fuse with you and become... the real "Megaman ZX"???

Happy Annivasery, MegaMan Zero. I'm glad MMZ Collection did so well with added features that were exlusive to Japan Versions of the MMZ series, but now we get to use them in MMZ3 as they are new to us Americans.

A series that actually had some closure and thus will always be remembered fondly of. I still remember that kneejerk reaction I had seeing Zero's new style the first time. And I also remember staring in amazement at copy X as the last boss on some Japanese website before the game was released.

I played Zero Collection last summer, effectively mastering the series by doing complete 100 S Hard Mode runs (albeit with the help of Mod Cards for Z3). So many "memories" with Kuwagust Anchus...Z2 is by far the hardest in the series to master.

It took me seven years to finally give these games a try. To me, they seemed a mockery of Mega Man. A lame gag. I hated the art style, and pretty much everything about it.

But I became desperate for SOME new Mega Man, and finally broke down and tried one. After a few days I warmed up to them, within weeks, was a HUGE fan! I've always said they're the Ferraris of platformers. They play with such precision, and you not only need to practice and get good, but you CAN. The control is unparalleled.

The music is excellent, I downloaded every track, and would listen to my concealed ipod nano all day at work.

The story gets engrossing and really stands on it's own, as well as fitting into the overall Mega Man timeline.

I think the Zero series as a whole is a masterwork, and I still play all the time. I'd love to see something more for this series.

It took me seven years to finally give these games a try. To me, they seemed a mockery of Mega Man. A lame gag. I hated the art style, and pretty much everything about it.

But I became desperate for SOME new Mega Man, and finally broke down and tried one. After a few days I warmed up to them, within weeks, was a HUGE fan! I've always said they're the Ferraris of platformers. They play with such precision, and you not only need to practice and get good, but you CAN. The control is unparalleled.

The music is excellent, I downloaded every track, and would listen to my concealed ipod nano all day at work.

The story gets engrossing and really stands on it's own, as well as fitting into the overall Mega Man timeline.

I think the Zero series as a whole is a masterwork, and I still play all the time. I'd love to see something more for this series.

I admit, this series really got me hooked to Mega Man. The story was very good, the difficulty was challenging, and the controls were the best that I have ever seen in a platformer. It taught me stuff like how your allies can be dangerous, how war can ruin lives, and how your actions are viewed by those affected. It brought me happiness (especially when I realized X was still alive), and sadness (the many deaths that transpired like X, Zero, and others).

All in all, this is probably the best series in the franchise. Some may argue that, but this is one of the two series with an actual conclusion. The controls, graphics, art, story, all of it is amazing. The fact it was portable made it even better, since one could bring it anywhere.

I don't even remember how I got to play the game, but it was a ROM of the first game that got me hooked instantly.I played X4 in high school at a friends and hated the series, but looking back I feel kind of silly... aside from the Zero series X4 is my favourite game of the whole franchise. xD;

Hats off to you Zero series. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be the technophile I am today.